This invention relates to a cooler, more particularly a chest with cooling means, which is used to temporarily store, cool, and protect the head and cape of a harvested wild game animal during transit between the field and the offices of a taxidermist.
The protection and care of the head and cape of a harvested wild game animal are important factors in assuring a quality mount from a taxidermist. A lack of refrigeration in the field can result in damage to the animal""s hair, hide and facial features when the cape becomes too warm. Sometimes the damage is so great that the cape must be discarded.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,992 describes a portable storage unit for transporting whole animals. The storage unit is a large enclosure with a supporting assembly inside for mounting the animal. A portable refrigeration unit can be attached to it in order to cool the interior. U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,569 describes a foldable panel made of material having insulating material. The carcass of the game animal is laid on one half of the panel and the other half is folded over the animal, which is enclosed by means of a zipper around the outer edges of the panel. Handles are used to move the carcass. Ice can be placed in a mesh bag inside the enclosure.
Both of the embodiments described are designed to transport whole animals. Both would be hard to handle and to move with an animal inside. Neither would adequately protect the hair and the hide of an animal for mounting purposes, and neither is designed to protect a game animal""s antlers or horns.
Therefore, a need exists for a device that will temporarily cool and protect the head and cape of a harvested game animal while a hunter is in the field and/or in transit from the field to a taxidermist. A need also exists for a device which takes into consideration the difficulty of accommodating the antlers or horns of game animals, such as whitetail deer, mule deer, antelope, and exotics. There is also a need for a device which is simple to use.
The present invention fulfills these needs by providing an easy-to-use, insulated box or ice chest having a uniquely-designed, insulated, flexible lid. The lid has openings with closures, which allow for the protrusion of a game animal""s horns or antlers from within the chest while completing a seal around the base of the horns or antlers, thereby completely enclosing the head within a cooling space.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a hunter would remove the lid, which is held in place on the top edges of the chest with a VELCRO(copyright) hook and loop fastening system. The hunter would set the animal""s head and cape into the cavity of the chest with the lower jaw of the animal resting on a supporting block. Ice, or another cooling medium, is typically used for cooling. Before replacing the lid, the hunter would open the lid""s overlapping closures, which are designed to accommodate the horns or antlers of the harvested animal. The flexible material can be worked down between and around the base of the horns or antlers. The hunter then presses down the outer edges of the bottom of the lid onto the top perimeter of the chest to secure the lid by mating the two parts of the VELCRO(copyright) hook and loop fastening system. Then the material around the base of the horns or antlers is overlapped and closed, also using the two-part VELCRO(copyright) fastening system.
A supporting block can be situated along one side of the bottom of the chest. When the head and cape of an animal is placed in the chest, the lower jaw of the animal is positioned on the top of the supporting block in order to support the animal""s head and elevate the animal""s antlers or horns.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an ice chest for storing, protecting, and cooling the head and cape of a harvested wild game animal while it is in transit.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a chest with a flexible lid for allowing an animal""s antlers and horns to protrude through the lid of the chest.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a chest which supports the head and antlers of a game animal during transit.